| MP slams decision to ditch asbestos drug
ROCHDALE MP Paul Rowen has slammed the ‘disgraceful' decision to withdraw a vital drug used by people fighting the deadly asbestos disease mesothelioma. He says the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) decision to withdraw the drug Alimta for NHS patients has been done for purely financial reasons. It will affect scores of people in Rochdale, which has an above-average number of mesothelioma sufferers because of the town's past links with the asbestos industry. The Turner Brothers complex at Spotland was once the largest asbestos factory in the world. Mr Rowen said: "I find the decision of Nice to be disgraceful. They have quite obviously put money before people's suffering and I am shocked. "Experts have told me the Nice appraisal cost around £1M, yet the cost of using this effective drug is estimated to be only £3M a year.
MP slams decision to ditch asbestos drug
ROCHDALE MP Paul Rowen has slammed the ‘disgraceful' decision to withdraw a vital drug used by people fighting the deadly asbestos disease mesothelioma. He says the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) decision to withdraw the drug Alimta for NHS patients has been done for purely financial reasons. It will affect scores of people in Rochdale, which has an above-average number of mesothelioma sufferers because of the town's past links with the asbestos industry. The Turner Brothers complex at Spotland was once the largest asbestos factory in the world. Mr Rowen said: "I find the decision of Nice to be disgraceful. They have quite obviously put money before people's suffering and I am shocked. "Experts have told me the Nice appraisal cost around £1M, yet the cost of using this effective drug is estimated to be only £3M a year.
Provision thrown out in WR Grace case
A federal judge has again thrown out a key portion of the criminal case against W.R. Grace and Co. and seven one-time employees.The dismissed allegations were a central element of a conspiracy count that lies at the core of the case against Grace, and accused top executives of knowingly endangering miners and residents in Libby, where the company's now-defunct vermiculite mine released dangerous cancer-causing asbestos into the air. .
Puzzling actions surround Hardie asbestos debacle
WINSTON Churchill described Russia as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, which can also be applied to the developing debacle around the latest attempt to coax money from James Hardie for the victims of asbestos poisoning. The riddle is the Australian Tax Office's ruling that the new entity set up by James Hardie working title: Special Purpose Fund is not a charity, thereby threatening the December deal to keep money flowing to asbestos victims. The mystery is why this fund had to be set up. Why not use the existing charity, the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation, which has been channelling compensation to James Hardie's victims? And the enigma is: why do investors think James Hardie's liability to its victims has been capped and are optimistically bidding up its share price? It has not been capped; the liability each year is limited to 35 per cent of cash flow, but the time for paying it is open-ended, and on one assessment the potential future claims are equal to the company's entire intrinsic value.
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